On-highway trucks having manual transmissions are often used to move payloads over long distances. The manual transmissions used in on-highway trucks can have any number of gears and typically have 10,13 or 18 gears or speeds. Generally, a stick shift is used in automobiles to change between gears of a five speed manual transmission by moving the stick shift to a position corresponding to the desired gear. However, with so many more gears used in on-highway trucks, it is common for a single stick position to be used for more than one gear.
Conventionally, a shuttle switch and/or a range switch is often used to shift between gears sharing the same stick shift position. For example, on a manual transmission having ten gears and a shuttle switch, the stick shift only moves through five positions in order to downshift from the tenth gear through all of the gears to the first gear. When the transmission is in tenth gear, the operator downshifts into ninth gear while the engine is below the downshift speed by operating the shuttle switch. To downshift into eighth gear while currently in ninth gear, the driver shifts into eighth gear by moving the stick shift into the corresponding position when the engine speed is below the downshift speed. This pattern generally continues until the driver moves the stick shift into the first position and operates the shuttle switch to shift into first gear.
Currently, traffic disturbances are often due to a driver failing to operate the truck at a slow and safe speed. Often, operation of the truck at speeds above those desired is due to a driver failing to properly brake and slow down the truck. Most notably, this situation occurs when a truck is driven down a hill and the driver is concerned with excessive wear or overheating of the conventional brakes on the truck.
Conventionally, there have been methods and apparatus, commonly known as "Jake Brakes" available from Jacobs Vehicle Equipment Company of Bloomfield, Connecticut, for loading an engine by opening the exhaust valve on the compression strokes of the engine and using the drag of the engine to assist in braking the truck. However, these systems require additional specialized equipment, can potentially cause problems if not set properly and are expensive to use, operate and maintain.
Currently, the truck driver must ensure that the truck is properly operated to prevent traffic disturbances. In the normal operation of a truck, many events are occurring simultaneously. This increases the potential for driver error, including the risk of incorrectly operating the truck by not driving at a slow and safe speed.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.